University News

Devilettes fall 100-87 in four-overtime battle in title game

March 16, 2013

Devilettes fall 100-87 in four-overtime battle in
title game

Mississippi
Valley State knew it had a fight on its hands entering Saturday’s SWAC
Tournament championship at the Curtis Culwell Center. But what ensued
neither the Devilettes nor Prairie View A&M could have saw coming.

The Lady Panthers hung on to defeat the
Devilettes, 100-87, in a four-overtime showdown between two evenly-matched
teams on national television.

The loss marks the end of MVSU’s season and the
careers of four Devilette seniors: Lenise Stallings, Khristina Clemons,
Alia Frank and Davina Jefferson.

“I just wanted it for my seniors,” said MVSU
coach Elvis Robinson. “At the end of the day, it hurts a lot. They don’t
cheat the game; they just come do what they have to do.”

One of those seniors, Clemons, was the reason
Valley (17-15) stayed alive for a third overtime.

The
senior Little Elm, Texas native converted a layup the final seconds of the
third overtime that sent the game into an extra five minutes.

In
all, the 20 extra minutes made for nearly a 3-hour long game. But
fatigue wasn't an issue for the Devilettes, despite playing
three games in three days, said Robinson.

“I don’t think fatigue played a part,” he said.
“They just made more buckets in the fourth overtime.” The Lady Panthers
(17-14) outscored the Devilettes 15-2 in the final overtime.

Clemons had a career-high 26 points for MVSU
while Jasmyne Sanders tied her career-best with 18 off the bench.
Meanwhile, Alia Frank chipped in 11 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for
the Devilettes, who shot 35.8 percent on the day. Valley’s Joncyee Sanders had
10 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and eight steals. Olivia Kennedy came
off the bench to contribute nine points, all on 3-pointers.

Kiara Etienne led Prairie View with 31 points
while Larissa Scott, who fouled out in the fourth overtime, finished with
24 points and five blocks. Prairie View shot 39.8 percent from the field.

“It’s
my first time going into four overtimes,” said Robinson. “We started in August
(and) to get to this point, for it to end this way, is tough.”